The RSPB National Swift Inventory Annual Report 2014 Welcome to our first annual report outlining the data collated from the public and birding groups around the UK on common swifts Apus apus. We hope you find it useful and will inspire you to join us in ensuring swifts have a home to come back to every year. Background The swift inventory was created in 2009 to help us map where swifts are nesting or looking for nest sites around the UK because their numbers are declining. The data is then used to show developers and local planning authorities where swifts are located in their areas and should therefore be providing nesting opportunities, and protecting existing nest sites. Data from the swift inventory is uploaded to the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) gateway at the end of each year so that interested individuals can download the data for themselves or view it on interactive maps. As the raw data itself may be hard for people to navigate we ve decided to do a brief annual report to summarise it into a more user-friendly format. Please share your observations of swifts with us every year via the inventory at www.rspb.org.uk/helpswifts. We can then build a clear picture of where swifts are declining most and stop these declines in their tracks. Results There are three lots of data captured via the inventory, i) screaming parties at roof height, ii) confirmed nests, and iii) absence of swifts or destroyed nests. The following data are the records submitted from 2009 to 2014 breeding seasons against these three criteria. The information is broken down by country and then by county. Screaming parties Screaming parties flying at roof height observed between June and July are usually young birds pairing up and scouting for possible future nest sites. These therefore give us information on which locations would be good to advise local authorities or developers on where to provide new nesting opportunities. Screaming parties 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 England 1665 85943 82477 71996 48290 16011 306382 Bedfordshire 10 1281 1462 1449 1260 586 6048 Berkshire 19 2098 1846 1679 1308 631 7581 Buckinghamshire 0 1638 1243 1129 982 276 5268 Cambridgeshire 485 1763 1875 1501 738 340 6702 Cheshire 20 1628 1558 1325 756 267 5554 County Durham 30 1106 1117 1225 364 180 4022 Cumberland 9 570 999 1078 1734 343 4733 1 March 2015
Screaming parties 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Derbyshire 17 1799 2984 1443 732 249 7224 Dorset 4 1685 1127 1131 673 232 4852 East Cornwall 35 335 189 427 118 101 1205 East Gloucestershire 1057 1244 1187 916 295 4699 East Kent 17 1654 1460 1524 852 90 5597 East Norfolk 4 3043 2322 2006 1018 561 8954 East Suffolk 9 2381 1380 1797 1786 430 7783 East Sussex 1310 1480 1403 602 310 5105 Herefordshire 20 664 777 472 304 214 2451 Hertfordshire 27 2649 2536 1823 1819 469 9323 Huntingdonshire 65 657 580 397 196 38 1933 Isle of Wight 194 288 249 60 41 832 Leicestershire 1314 1017 1498 488 223 4540 Middlesex 48 2802 2908 2781 2294 871 11704 Mid-west Yorkshire 42 1515 1975 1763 852 331 6478 North Devon 469 576 341 336 80 1802 North Essex 63 1816 1211 1225 653 543 5511 North Hampshire 63 936 1063 652 294 219 3227 North Lincolnshire 12 1153 1157 720 726 159 3927 North Northumberland 413 86 267 61 156 983 North Somerset 32 1712 1584 1568 3138 479 8513 North Wiltshire 2 1093 991 767 744 144 3741 Northamptonshire 20 1268 1113 934 598 289 4222 North-east Yorkshire 58 1580 1588 1514 838 229 5807 North-west Yorkshire 8 462 853 430 506 147 2406 Nottinghamshire 2199 1952 1323 550 421 6445 Oxfordshire 1680 1149 1342 1302 310 5783 Shropshire 7 886 1503 1096 580 89 4161 South Devon 38 2002 1893 1894 1136 179 7142 South Essex 21 2252 2127 1904 980 337 7621 South Hampshire 25 2476 1680 1641 1069 302 7193 South Lancashire 115 2013 2491 2965 1482 427 9493 South Lincolnshire 2 1411 1193 838 520 113 4077 South Northumberland 669 762 568 422 113 2534 South Somerset 12 1560 1126 1099 840 228 4865 South Wiltshire 8 1067 776 855 436 155 3297 South-east Yorkshire 12 1394 1395 1568 584 235 5188 South-west Yorkshire 55 2999 3474 2758 1700 670 11656 Staffordshire 45 2087 2109 1331 526 110 6208 2 March 2015
Screaming parties 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Surrey 57 3967 3435 2956 1706 424 12545 Warkwickshire 15 2480 1968 1388 616 179 6646 West Cornwall 433 219 599 570 235 2056 West Gloucestershire 12 1014 1098 1020 712 141 3997 West Kent 6 2239 1596 1381 1614 468 7304 West Lancashire 377 793 633 741 89 2633 West Norfolk 27 1534 1308 1006 416 238 4529 West Suffolk 25 1257 1118 1125 500 143 4168 West Sussex 12 1646 1395 1065 497 221 4836 Westmorland 20 576 1424 521 624 225 3390 Worcestershire 32 1680 1904 1415 421 436 5888 Isle of Man 29 98 49 12 188 Isle of Man 29 98 49 12 188 Northern Ireland 928 894 1190 1250 1037 5299 Antrim 393 533 602 490 192 2210 Armagh 60 60 52 64 463 699 Belfast County Borough 128 58 161 212 66 625 Down 109 142 167 110 157 685 Fermanagh 37 28 84 32 181 Londonderry 43 81 172 274 57 627 Tyrone 158 20 8 16 70 272 ROI 18 40 82 49 17 206 ROI 18 40 82 49 17 206 Scotland 219 5818 4792 5011 2668 1001 19509 Angus 10 334 222 137 102 25 830 Argyllshire 82 90 110 30 312 Ayrshire 6 100 164 202 80 50 602 Banffshire 62 52 49 3 166 Berwickshire 8 92 42 60 70 272 Caithness 40 12 52 Clyde Islands 10 10 Dumfriesshire 2 297 64 90 44 47 544 Dunbartonshire 86 50 73 40 8 257 East Inverness-shire 0 955 108 213 156 15 1447 East Lothian 48 85 153 30 12 328 East Perthshire 40 165 47 126 139 22 539 East Ross & Cromarty 55 70 125 16 20 286 East Sutherland 14 8 22 Fifeshire 402 977 667 458 31 2535 3 March 2015
Screaming parties 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Kincardineshire 59 103 67 22 66 317 Kintyre 11 11 Kirkcudbrightshire 87 156 82 77 88 490 Lanarkshire 318 292 355 120 86 1171 Mid Perthshire 30 416 230 526 130 59 1391 Midlothian 17 724 537 566 535 142 2521 Moray 119 198 163 84 564 North Aberdeenshire 153 213 93 72 20 551 North Ebudes 0 0 Orkney 5 5 Outer Hebrides 10 10 Peeblesshire 22 22 45 14 103 Renfrewshire 49 125 114 192 56 24 560 Roxburghshire 175 113 75 92 19 474 Selkirkshire 6 14 6 26 South Aberdeenshire 15 418 138 321 210 41 1143 South Ebudes 40 40 Stirlingshire 2 146 246 242 48 13 697 West Inverness-shire 69 34 65 24 20 212 West Lothian 113 148 99 31 391 West Perthshire 144 123 166 60 42 535 West Ross & Cromarty 2 2 West Sutherland 7 5 12 Wigtownshire 25 16 28 12 81 Wales 10 3306 3193 3541 1859 512 12421 Anglesey 54 55 90 199 Breconshire 216 190 191 141 30 768 Caernarvonshire 206 225 169 28 18 646 Cardiganshire 116 122 292 150 15 695 Carmarthenshire 208 220 164 126 25 743 Denbighshire 289 345 371 64 40 1109 Flintshire 10 326 260 138 14 5 753 Glamorganshire 863 537 1086 696 74 3256 Merionethshire 49 151 102 138 440 Monmouthshire 565 591 420 318 259 2153 Montgomeryshire 215 224 301 42 20 802 Pembrokeshire 94 105 88 106 26 419 Radnorshire 105 168 129 36 438 1894 96042 91494 81869 54116 18590 344005 4 March 2015
No of screaming swift parties 100000 90000 80000 70000 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0 Country totals of screaming parties against year 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Year England Isle of Man Northern Ireland ROI Scotland Wales Nest observations Nest observations where people have definitely seen a swift entering a hole, crevice, or nest brick/box on a building. This information also helps us advise on providing extra nesting opportunities in the vicinity as well as protecting the existing nests. Nest observations 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 England 176 7176 9720 5291 3316 1567 27246 Bedfordshire 4 148 206 88 68 37 551 Berkshire 3 160 184 141 76 14 578 Buckinghamshire 0 147 137 51 36 17 388 Cambridgeshire 20 119 231 99 50 45 564 Cheshire 11 144 136 102 46 27 466 County Durham 61 106 98 58 9 332 Cumberland 44 90 94 46 17 291 Derbyshire 4 135 390 132 78 30 769 Dorset 113 239 59 41 38 490 East Cornwall 40 66 56 10 20 192 East Gloucestershire 110 151 77 70 15 423 East Kent 122 110 147 64 4 447 East Norfolk 2 301 335 210 111 50 1009 East Suffolk 0 162 183 107 68 48 568 5 March 2015
Nest observations 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 East Sussex 85 117 85 24 25 336 Herefordshire 1 78 124 36 36 20 295 Hertfordshire 1 171 205 87 66 15 545 Huntingdonshire 3 70 84 46 11 4 218 Isle of Wight 12 23 11 46 Leicestershire 135 134 107 76 50 502 Middlesex 15 178 254 135 122 46 750 Mid-west Yorkshire 2 216 124 121 70 21 554 North Devon 40 118 30 24 11 223 North Essex 5 106 124 100 41 29 405 North Hampshire 5 79 109 96 38 18 345 North Lincolnshire 2 127 100 49 55 18 351 North Northumberland 16 12 7 4 6 45 North Somerset 4 143 205 105 102 43 602 North Wiltshire 1 93 108 40 64 98 404 Northamptonshire 4 106 125 75 78 18 406 North-east Yorkshire 2 231 102 124 60 25 544 North-west Yorkshire 1 47 107 42 26 7 230 Nottinghamshire 137 203 124 42 37 543 Oxfordshire 157 205 108 74 28 572 Shropshire 95 345 145 80 21 686 South Devon 19 200 644 169 98 25 1155 South Essex 105 121 87 60 20 393 South Hampshire 10 149 163 112 74 18 526 South Lancashire 3 166 197 146 192 24 728 South Lincolnshire 1 83 127 50 40 8 309 South Northumberland 58 56 51 72 4 241 South Somerset 7 173 224 79 62 23 568 South Wiltshire 2 75 44 67 46 33 267 South-east Yorkshire 8 113 75 93 34 17 340 South-west Yorkshire 10 221 234 189 51 86 791 Staffordshire 208 397 120 70 22 817 Surrey 4 265 322 260 136 36 1023 Warkwickshire 1 227 191 86 44 15 564 West Cornwall 42 41 23 36 4 146 West Gloucestershire 3 92 181 120 80 107 583 West Kent 4 164 148 96 36 32 480 West Lancashire 43 84 41 56 6 230 West Norfolk 5 162 168 93 38 38 504 West Suffolk 0 111 118 50 31 24 334 6 March 2015
Nest observations 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 West Sussex 6 195 154 75 41 22 493 Westmorland 0 50 321 40 54 62 527 Worcestershire 3 146 218 110 50 30 557 Isle of Man 3 1 4 Isle of Man 3 1 4 Northern Ireland 298 252 292 149 158 195 1344 Antrim 140 139 207 77 96 8 667 Armagh 6 32 8 2 128 176 Belfast County Borough 44 7 6 21 22 8 108 Down 15 10 19 5 8 13 70 Fermanagh 6 20 4 8 28 17 83 Londonderry 59 8 46 36 2 13 164 Tyrone 28 36 2 2 8 76 ROI 0 23 7 2 1 33 ROI 0 23 7 2 1 33 Scotland 34 612 284 381 199 97 1607 Angus 31 34 5 4 3 77 Argyllshire 5 16 12 18 3 54 Ayrshire 7 14 15 6 42 Banffshire 8 3 6 2 19 Berwickshire 2 5 3 25 3 38 Caithness 1 1 Clyde Islands 2 1 3 Dumfriesshire 1 14 4 13 9 41 Dunbartonshire 3 3 18 4 1 29 East Inverness-shire 0 70 15 1 22 3 111 East Lothian 2 9 8 1 20 East Perthshire 24 1 27 24 1 77 East Ross & Cromarty 6 5 4 15 East Sutherland 1 1 Fifeshire 40 33 38 26 5 142 Kincardineshire 1 7 4 5 2 3 22 Kintyre 1 1 Kirkcudbrightshire 8 19 11 22 2 8 70 Lanarkshire 13 49 12 26 8 1 109 Mid Perthshire 3 62 13 30 6 14 128 Midlothian 68 29 47 12 8 164 Moray 19 21 9 2 51 North Aberdeenshire 24 16 7 22 2 71 North Ebudes 1 1 7 March 2015
Nest observations 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Orkney 1 1 Peeblesshire 2 1 4 7 Renfrewshire 6 5 4 4 3 22 Roxburghshire 14 5 10 4 6 39 Selkirkshire 1 2 2 5 South Aberdeenshire 32 9 28 14 3 86 Stirlingshire 32 6 16 4 3 61 West Inverness-shire 3 4 2 2 2 13 West Lothian 19 1 9 6 35 West Perthshire 1 17 7 13 4 4 46 West Ross & Cromarty 1 1 West Sutherland 3 3 Wigtownshire 1 1 Wales 7 401 512 387 153 41 1501 Anglesey 7 10 11 28 Breconshire 20 27 21 7 5 80 Caernarvonshire 29 23 19 4 3 78 Cardiganshire 20 12 58 33 1 124 Carmarthenshire 13 53 33 16 4 119 Denbighshire 52 92 40 5 189 Flintshire 5 39 28 13 1 86 Glamorganshire 1 85 75 102 70 5 338 Merionethshire 5 8 7 6 26 Monmouthshire 1 97 66 51 4 19 238 Montgomeryshire 22 31 12 2 67 Pembrokeshire 10 59 8 1 78 Radnorshire 2 28 12 8 50 515 8441 10834 6216 3828 1901 31735 8 March 2015
12000 Country totals of swift nest records by year 10000 No of swift nests observed 8000 6000 4000 2000 England Isle of Man Northern Ireland ROI Scotland Wales 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Year Absence of swifts Absence data is where people have not seen roof level screaming parties return or their swifts returning to known nest sites, as well as information on what nests they know to have been destroyed/had access blocked. Count of Non Sighting Reason 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 England 1 7 7 227 122 48 412 Bedfordshire 1 1 1 7 11 5 26 Demolition of Property 1 1 2 property 1 1 Suspect nest deliberately tampered with 1 1 1 7 9 3 22 Berkshire 3 3 Unsure 3 3 Buckinghamshire 1 5 4 10 Unsure 1 5 4 10 Cambridgeshire 4 4 Unsure 4 4 9 March 2015
Count of Non Sighting Reason 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Cheshire 3 2 1 6 property 1 1 Unsure 3 2 5 County Durham 2 1 3 Unsure 2 1 3 Cumberland 3 1 4 Unsure 3 1 4 Derbyshire 8 2 10 Unsure 8 2 10 Dorset 1 1 East Cornwall 3 2 5 Unsure 3 2 5 East Kent 5 2 7 Unsure 5 2 7 East Norfolk 5 4 1 10 Unsure 5 2 1 8 East Suffolk 3 2 5 Unsure 3 2 5 East Sussex 6 6 Unsure 6 6 Herefordshire 3 2 5 Unsure 3 2 5 Hertfordshire 3 2 1 6 Unsure 3 2 1 6 Huntingdonshire 1 1 2 2 Leicestershire 5 1 6 Unsure 5 1 6 Middlesex 1 10 3 4 18 0 3 2 16 Mid-west Yorkshire 5 5 Unsure 5 5 North Devon 1 1 1 2 5 1 2 5 North Essex 1 1 North Hampshire 2 6 1 9 10 March 2015
Count of Non Sighting Reason 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 property 1 1 Unsure 2 6 8 North Lincolnshire 2 2 1 5 Demolition of Property 1 1 Unsure 2 2 4 North Northumberland 1 1 North Somerset 7 8 3 18 property 4 4 Unsure 7 4 3 14 North Wiltshire 2 2 4 Unsure 2 2 Northamptonshire 5 4 9 Unsure 5 2 7 North-east Yorkshire 4 6 10 Unsure 4 6 10 Nottinghamshire 1 4 5 Unsure 1 4 5 Oxfordshire 1 2 2 2 7 Unsure 1 2 2 2 7 Shropshire 3 1 4 Unsure 3 1 4 South Devon 2 5 2 9 Unsure 2 5 2 9 South Essex 1 5 4 1 11 property 1 1 Unsure 1 5 4 10 South Hampshire 9 10 3 22 property 4 3 7 Unsure 9 6 15 South Lancashire 11 2 2 15 Unsure 11 2 2 15 South Lincolnshire 2 2 4 Unsure 2 2 4 South Northumberland 2 4 2 8 11 March 2015
Count of Non Sighting Reason 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Unsure 2 4 6 South Somerset 4 4 Unsure 4 4 South-east Yorkshire 3 4 1 8 property 1 1 Unsure 3 4 7 South-west Yorkshire 8 4 3 15 property 1 1 Unsure 8 4 2 14 Staffordshire 6 4 1 11 Unsure 6 4 1 11 Surrey 9 2 2 13 property 1 1 Unsure 9 2 1 12 Warkwickshire 7 2 2 11 Unsure 7 2 9 West Cornwall 5 2 7 Unsure 5 2 7 West Gloucestershire 5 6 4 15 Unsure 5 6 2 13 West Kent 7 2 2 11 Unsure 7 2 2 11 West Lancashire 6 6 Unsure 6 6 West Norfolk 1 2 3 West Suffolk 3 3 Unsure 3 3 West Sussex 6 1 7 Unsure 6 1 7 Westmorland 1 1 Worcestershire 6 2 8 12 March 2015
Count of Non Sighting Reason 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Unsure 6 2 8 Northern Ireland 3 4 7 Antrim 1 1 Armagh 2 2 Unsure 2 2 Down 3 1 4 Unsure 3 1 4 Scotland 1 2 14 16 1 34 Angus 1 2 3 Dumfriesshire 2 2 Unsure 2 2 Dunbartonshire 1 1 East Lothian 1 1 East Perthshire 1 1 East Ross & Cromarty 1 1 Fifeshire 3 2 1 6 Unsure 3 2 1 6 Lanarkshire 1 2 3 Unsure 1 2 3 Midlothian 5 4 9 Unsure 5 4 9 Moray 4 4 Unsure 2 2 Renfrewshire 1 1 Stirlingshire 1 1 West Perthshire 1 1 Wales 15 2 1 18 Breconshire 1 1 13 March 2015
Count of Non Sighting Reason 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Caernarvonshire 2 2 Unsure 2 2 Cardiganshire 1 1 Carmarthenshire 2 2 Unsure 2 2 Denbighshire 1 1 Glamorganshire 5 2 1 8 Unsure 5 2 1 8 Monmouthshire 2 2 Unsure 2 2 Radnorshire 1 1 1 8 9 259 140 54 471 250 Country totals of non-sightings of swifts by year non-sightings of swifts 200 150 100 50 England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Year 14 March 2015
Caveats to the observations For the first few years after the inventory was launched, the number of people entering records was fairly consistent. However, we can t guarantee that it was exactly the same people returning to enter their sightings. As the table below demonstrates, in the last couple of years where we have not been successful in getting a lot of national media coverage promoting the inventory, the number of submissions has fallen dramatically. Year number of records submitted 2009 6,774 2010 10,028 2011 14,375 2012 10,771 2013 7,348 2014 2,693 submissions 51,989 In order to ensure we are doing the best we can for swifts, please remember to record your sightings (or lack of returning birds, or nest destructions) to the inventory every year. This will make the data captured more reliable and help make the case even stronger for protecting our swifts. Summary As you can see from the data gathered over the past five years, the story for swifts breeding in the UK and Republic of Ireland does not look great. If we focus on the three years where we did get consistent numbers of records submitted by people (2010-2012), it shows potential declines in screaming parties and nests across most of the countries over those years. For 2012 there were slight increases of screaming parties recorded in N Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland but the overall totals across the board were still around a 10,000 decline against 2011 results. Also, for 2012 we had the highest records of non-returning swifts or nest destructions reported across all countries for those three years, including the countries that had shown a slight increase in screaming parties that year. If you are concerned about an active swift nest site being lost to redevelopment or refurbishment, please look at our guidance on our threatened sites web pages and see how you can help. Thank you for your continued support to ensure swifts have a future in the UK. 15 March 2015